Two-day governors conference to begin today

President Ram Nath Kovind, will preside over a two-day Conference of Governors and Lt. Governors today and tomorrow, at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

This will be the 49th such Conference to be held in Rashtrapati Bhavan and the second Conference to be presided over by President Kovind.

The first Conference of Governors was held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in 1949. It was presided over by C. Rajagopalachari, then the Governor General of India.

The two-day 2018 Conference will discuss important thematic issues in various sessions.Today, the Conference will commence with the inaugural address by the President.The second session will see briefings and presentations on flagship programmes of the Government of India and on internal security.

During this session, presentations will be made by the Vice Chairman and the CEO of NITI Aayog as well as by the National Security Advisor.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also address the gathering.The third session will cover the theme of higher education in state universities and skill development for employability. The Governor of Gujarat will be the convenor of this session.During this session, presentations will be made by the Secretary, Higher Education and the Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

In the fourth session, Governors/Lt. Governors will discuss steps taken on the report 'Rajyapal - Vikas Ke Rajdoot: Catalytic Role of Governors as Agents for Change in Society'. This report was submitted by the Committee of Governors to the President on January 9, 2018. The Committee was constituted during the 48th Conference of Governors in October 2017. The Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will convene this session.

On June 5, 2018, the fifth session of the Conference of Governors will discuss ideas on how to commemorate the 150thbirth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. During this session, presentations will be made on Gram Swaraj Abhiyan and Swachhata Internship and Governors/Lt. Governors will make suggestions. The Governor of Uttar Pradesh shall be the convenor of this session.

In the sixth and concluding session, brief presentations on the deliberations in the previous thematic sessions will be made by the convenor Governors.President Kovind, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will address the concluding session.A special session on Union Territories will be held on June 5, 2018, at which Lt. Governors/Administrators of Union Territories will discuss status of implementation of various flagship programmes. The Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary and other senior officials will be part of the meeting.

Governors and Lt. Governors of all States and Union Territories will attend the Conference.The Vice President; Prime Minister; Union Ministers of Home Affairs; External Affairs; Human Resource Development; Skill Development & Entrepreneurship; Minster of State (I/C) of Ministry of Culture and Vice Chairman and CEO of NITI Aayog and other senior officials from various Ministries will also participate.